Marin officials approve $15 million disability access settlement

In what some called a landmark legal settlement, Marin County officials have agreed to spend at least $15 million over 15 years to improve access for the disabled at county facilities.

"It's a huge deal!" said Leigh Shemaria of San Rafael, who signed on as a plaintiff after those who sought access improvements in a 2008 lawsuit died or dropped out of the case.

Shemaria, whose 13-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy, said the settlement is a triumph for the disabled as well as others.

"It's for all the mothers with strollers and old ladies with walkers," she said, noting it is difficult for pedestrians as well as those in wheelchairs to maneuver on uneven surfaces or get around without curb cuts.

Marin Superior Court Judge Roy Chernus has tentatively approved a class-action settlement compelling the county to spend at least $1 million a year for 15 years on improvements "maximizing programmatic access for persons with mobility disabilities." The settlement is up for final approval by Chernus on April 9.

The settlement also requires the county to hire a mobility and mediation expert, architect Timothy Gilbert of San Rafael of MIG consultants of Berkeley, to set access improvement priorities. Gilbert, saying he has consulted for the county for a decade, declined to disclose his fee, calling it "very little." A contract has not yet been approved.

A statement from Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP in San Francisco said the firm "achieved a landmark settlement in its disability access class action against the county of Marin."

The firm noted that in exchange for the county's $15 million funding commitment, "class members who are all members with mobility disabilities will release the county of Marin from all claims for injunctive or declaratory relief that they may have against the county for its alleged failure to make county-owned or maintained facilities accessible to persons with mobility disabilities." Those objecting to the settlement must notify the court by April 3.

Guy Wallace, lead attorney on the case for the firm, called the settlement a big win for the disabled community.

"We're pleased with it," he said. "It's a major step forward."

As for the $1 million attorney fee his firm seeks from the county, Wallace said, "There's going to be a contested motion on that ... the judge will decide."

Deputy County Counsel Sheila Lichtblau, saying the county has spent about $20 million in recent years to make facilities accessible to all, asserted that the tentative agreement is a pledge the county will continue its work to make government, library, park and other facilities "meet or exceed" standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"The county is very happy this case most likely will be resolved," Litchblau said. "The county will continue what it has been doing over the last several years."

Projects currently underway include making water fountains at the Civic Center accessible to those in wheelchairs, as well as paving, curb reconfiguration and related access work at the south archway of the Administration Building.

The first sentence of a county press release announcing the proposed settlement thumped an upbeat theme, explaining, "In the spirit of accessibility to all, the county of Marin continues to maximize access for people with mobility disabilities at its 51-year-old headquarters, other county facilities and pedestrian paths of travel."

At home in San Rafael, plaintiff Shemaria was upbeat as well, but suggested the county's interest in accessibility was propelled by the lawsuit.

"Since the lawsuit, it's true the county has done lots," she said. "It's terrific."